FV103 Spartan

Armored personnel carrier

The FV103 Spartan
armored personnel carrier is a specialist team combat carrier

Entered service

1978

Crew

3 men

Personnel

4 men

Dimensions and weight

Weight

8.17 t

Length

5.12 m

Width

2.13
m

Height

2.26 m

Armament

Machine guns

1 x 7.62-mm

Mobility

Engine

Cummins diesel engine

Engine power

195 hp

Maximum road speed

80 km/h

Range

483 km

Maneuverability

Gradient

60%

Side slope

35%

Vertical step

0.5 m

Trench

2 m

Fording

1 m

The FV103
Spartan tracked APC was not developed in isolation, but as a part of
an armored combat vehicle family headed by the
Scorpion light tank
armed with a 76-mm gun. There are seven main members in the family,
all produced by Alvis Vehicles, in which the Spartan was intended to
be a specialist combat team carrier. This means that the Spartan is
normally operated not as an infantry combat section vehicle but as a
combat engineer, battlefield reconnaissance or air defense missile
team carrier. A total of 967 FV103 Spartans were built.

Since the
British Army has reorganized, many Spartans have become available
from their former employment so are now widely issued as general
purpose liaison and patrol vehicles. The chassis and suspension of
the Spartan are shared with all other members of the Scorpion
family, as is the Jaguar petrol engine (later replaced with Cummins
diesel) but on the Spartan the aluminum hull is enlarged to a box
configuration to accommodate the driver, team commander/radio
operator and the vehicle commander who also operates the 7.62-mm MG
mounted over his cupola; the MG can be aimed and fired from within
the vehicle.

The troop
compartment at the rear seats four personnel with space for their
specialized and personal equipment; more equipment can be stowed
externally in racks or boxes. Some Spartans have provision for
mounting a battlefield surveillance radar on the hull roof while
others have internal racking for air defense missiles. At one time
British Infantry had tank destroyer Spartans with
MILAN ATGW
launcher turrets on their roof but these have now been withdrawn.

Another
variant was known as the Streaker (mainly due to its high speed
potential although all members of the Scorpion family are agile and
fast). The Streaker was s Spartan chassis with an open flat bead
rear to act as a front line stores transporter or mine dispensing
equipment carrier - it did not pass the prototype stage.

In 2014
British MoD ordered a total of 59
PMRS
armored personnel carriers as a replacement for the ageing Spartans.
These specialist combat team carriers are planned to enter service
with the British Army in 2017.